Recommended stack · Optimized for scale

Modern Observability

A portable telemetry pipeline for metrics, logs, traces, visualization, and application errors.

Responsibilities: 6
Open source: 6 choices
Self-hostable: 6 choices

What it is for

Instrument services with OpenTelemetry, retain focused stores for metrics, logs, and traces, investigate them through Grafana, and keep product-facing exception triage in Sentry. This separates portable instrumentation from storage and incident workflows.

Who should use it

Teams operating production services that want open telemetry standards and control over their storage backends.

From decision to first build

Start with this stack.

Choose the pieces you want, then copy the build prompt into your coding assistant. No account needed.

Optional capabilities start as “Not needed”. Hosted providers add external dependencies, including to the open-source stack.

What are you building?

Instrumentation

OpenTelemetry keeps traces, metrics, and logs portable at the collection boundary.

Open SourceRead the source ↗

Metrics

Prometheus supplies the established labeled time-series model and alert-rule ecosystem.

Open SourceRead the source ↗

Logs

Loki keeps log indexing focused on labels and integrates directly with Grafana workflows.

Open SourceRead the source ↗

Traces

Jaeger provides a focused backend and investigation surface for distributed traces.

Open SourceRead the source ↗

Visualization

Grafana gives operators one dashboard and exploration surface across the selected telemetry stores.

Generous Free TierRead the source ↗

Application errors

Sentry complements infrastructure telemetry with release-aware exception grouping and user-impact context.

Generous Free TierRead the source ↗

# Build with Modern Observability

Product brief: A portable telemetry pipeline for metrics, logs, traces, visualization, and application errors.
Target user: Teams operating production services that want open telemetry standards and control over their storage backends.

## Selected technologies
- Instrumentation: OpenTelemetry
  Integration: OpenTelemetry keeps traces, metrics, and logs portable at the collection boundary.
  Cost context: Open Source
  Reference: https://howtobuild.dev/projects/opentelemetry
- Metrics: Prometheus
  Integration: Prometheus supplies the established labeled time-series model and alert-rule ecosystem.
  Cost context: Open Source
  Reference: https://howtobuild.dev/projects/prometheus
- Logs: Grafana Loki
  Integration: Loki keeps log indexing focused on labels and integrates directly with Grafana workflows.
  Cost context: Open Source
  Reference: https://howtobuild.dev/projects/loki
- Traces: Jaeger
  Integration: Jaeger provides a focused backend and investigation surface for distributed traces.
  Cost context: Open Source
  Reference: https://howtobuild.dev/projects/jaeger
- Visualization: Grafana
  Integration: Grafana gives operators one dashboard and exploration surface across the selected telemetry stores.
  Cost context: Generous Free Tier
  Reference: https://howtobuild.dev/projects/grafana
- Application errors: Sentry
  Integration: Sentry complements infrastructure telemetry with release-aware exception grouping and user-impact context.
  Cost context: Generous Free Tier
  Reference: https://howtobuild.dev/projects/sentry

## Implementation brief
1. Inspect the current repository and its instructions. Explain the architecture and verify the current official installation guides and package compatibility for the selected choices. Preserve existing work.
2. Implement one useful vertical slice with a responsive, accessible interface, loading/empty/error states, and a clear README. Use only the selected provider for each responsibility. Do not silently substitute another stack.
3. If authentication is selected, enforce authorization on the server. Implement sign-in, sign-out, session handling, and protected data access. Keep provider secrets server-side and document required environment variables.
4. Document data models and migration commands. Do not provision paid services, deploy, or modify an existing database without explicit authorization. Use placeholders in .env.example and never invent API keys.
5. Validate with the repository’s allowed checks and record their results. Document what remains dependent on account setup, credentials, or deployment.
6. Do not add optional providers that were not selected. For external integrations, keep secrets server-side, verify webhook signatures, and make event handling idempotent. Hosted add-ons change the base stack’s self-hosting and cost assumptions.

## Base stack tradeoffs (reassess when a choice is replaced)
- Several specialized backends create more operational work than a unified managed platform.
- Cross-signal correlation requires disciplined resource attributes and configuration.
- High-cardinality telemetry can create unpredictable storage and query costs.
- These selections customize the editorial stack. Recheck integration boundaries when replacing a component; hosted free tiers are not a promise of free production operation.

## Stack references
- https://howtobuild.dev/stacks/modern-observability
- Vendor-neutral telemetry signals and collector model: https://opentelemetry.io/docs/
- Prometheus metrics and alerting model: https://prometheus.io/docs/introduction/overview/

Updates as you choose your technologies.

Responsibility map

One choice for each job.

01
Instrumentation
OpenTelemetry
OpenTelemetry keeps traces, metrics, and logs portable at the collection boundary.
Open sourceOpen SourceSelf-hostable
02
Metrics
Prometheus
Prometheus supplies the established labeled time-series model and alert-rule ecosystem.
Open sourceOpen SourceSelf-hostable
03
Logs
Grafana Loki
Loki keeps log indexing focused on labels and integrates directly with Grafana workflows.
Open sourceOpen SourceSelf-hostable
04
Traces
Jaeger
Jaeger provides a focused backend and investigation surface for distributed traces.
Open sourceOpen SourceSelf-hostable
Alternatives
SigNoz — Choose SigNoz when one integrated OpenTelemetry backend is preferable to several specialized stores.
05
Visualization
Grafana
Grafana gives operators one dashboard and exploration surface across the selected telemetry stores.
Open sourceGenerous Free TierSelf-hostable
06
Application errors
Sentry
Sentry complements infrastructure telemetry with release-aware exception grouping and user-impact context.
Open sourceGenerous Free TierSelf-hostable
Alternatives
SigNoz — Use the integrated platform when reducing tool count matters more than Sentry's focused exception workflow.

Open-source profile

What you can own.

The instrumentation and core telemetry backends are open source and self-hostable. Sentry has source-available components and a managed cloud option with separate terms.

Cost profile

Where cost appears.

Software can be self-hosted, but telemetry storage, retention, high-cardinality data, on-call operations, and managed alternatives can become substantial costs.

Tradeoffs

What this stack asks you to accept.

Several specialized backends create more operational work than a unified managed platform.
Cross-signal correlation requires disciplined resource attributes and configuration.
High-cardinality telemetry can create unpredictable storage and query costs.

Editorial note

Stack choices are editorial recommendations, not an automatic popularity ranking. Pricing and capabilities can change.

Sources checked

Vendor-neutral telemetry signals and collector modelSep 4, 2026

Prometheus metrics and alerting modelSep 4, 2026